Fabien Maldonado
Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic
Papers
23
Total Citations
646
H-Index
13
About
Fabien Maldonado is a leading physician-scientist whose research sits at the dynamic intersection of interventional pulmonology, bronchoscopic navigation, and surgical robotics. His work has fundamentally advanced how clinicians detect and biopsy peripheral pulmonary nodules — a critical challenge in early lung cancer diagnosis. Maldonado has rigorously evaluated emerging guidance technologies, including electromagnetic navigation, robotic-assisted bronchoscopy, cone-beam CT, and digital tomosynthesis, through prospective and randomized trials that have collectively garnered hundreds of citations. His landmark 2019 comparative study of guided bronchoscopic approaches (142 citations) and his methodological contribution questioning how diagnostic yield is calculated in bronchoscopy studies (104 citations) have reshaped how researchers design and interpret clinical trials in this field. Beyond navigation platforms, Maldonado has pushed boundaries into surgical robotics, contributing to concentric tube robots for airway obstruction, reconfigurable parallel continuum robots for incisionless surgery, and autonomous needle steering in vivo. His 2025 RELIANT randomized trial directly comparing robotic versus electromagnetic bronchoscopy represents some of the most rigorous comparative effectiveness work to date, cementing his reputation as a transformative force in modern interventional pulmonology.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 5Autonomous medical needle steering in vivo45 citations · 2023
- 6Reconfigurable parallel continuum robots for incisionless surgery31 citations · 2016
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- 10Innovation in rigid bronchoscopy—past, present, and future18 citations · 2023